Bending press and/or loading device

Abstract

The invention relates to a bending press ( 1 ) and/or a loading device ( 2 ) for loading a bending press ( 1 ) with bending tools ( 5, 6 ), comprising: at least one tool holder ( 3, 4; 13, 14 ) with a rail ( 7 ) having an inner profile ( 8 ) for receiving and displacing a bending tool ( 5, 6 ), at least one internal wall ( 9 ) of the rail ( 7 ) forming a guide structure ( 10 ) extending in the longitudinal direction of the rail ( 7 ); and at least one transfer device ( 15 ) drivable by a drive ( 21 ) for displacing a bending tool ( 5, 6 ) within the tool holder ( 3, 4; 13, 14 ) and/or between the tool holder ( 13, 14 ) of the loading device ( 2 ) and a tool holder ( 3, 4 ) of a bending press ( 1 ), wherein at least one portion of the transfer device ( 15 ) is guided by the guide structure ( 10 ) formed in the rail ( 7 ).

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. An apparatus comprising:
 at least one tool holder with a rail having an inner profile for receiving and for allowing displacement of a bending tool, at least one internal wall of the rail forming a guide structure extending in the longitudinal direction of the rail; 
 and at least one transfer device drivable by a drive for displacing the bending tool within the at least one tool holder and/or from the at least one tool holder, 
 wherein at least one portion of the at least one transfer device is guided by the guide structure formed in the rail; and 
 wherein the at least one transfer device and the bending tool, or the at least one portion of the at least one transfer device and the bending tool, are held in the rail. 
 
     
     
       2. The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one transfer device is displaceable along the guide structure parallel with the longitudinal direction of the rail and, in a direction perpendicular to the rail, is held by the guide structure in the direction from the rail interior towards an opening of the rail. 
     
     
       3. The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the bending tool is held in the rail by the same guide structure as that by which the at least one portion of the at least one transfer device is guided. 
     
     
       4. The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the guide structure is formed by a region of the inner profile of the rail that is wider than an opening of the rail. 
     
     
       5. The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the guide structure comprises at least one groove extending in the at least one internal wall of the rail. 
     
     
       6. The apparatus according to  claim 5 , wherein the at least one internal wall of the rail comprises oppositely lying internal walls of the rail, and wherein the guide structure is formed by at least two oppositely lying grooves disposed in the oppositely lying internal walls of the rail. 
     
     
       7. The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the guide structure is provided in the form of discrete guide elements extending out from the at least one internal wall into the interior of the rail and distributed in the longitudinal direction of the rail. 
     
     
       8. The apparatus according to  claim 7 , wherein the apparatus has a clamping device for clamping the bending tool in the rail and the discrete guide elements are provided in the form of drivable clamping elements of the clamping device. 
     
     
       9. The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the portion of the at least one transfer device guided by the guide structure is an elongate pull and/or push transmitter. 
     
     
       10. The apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein the pull and/or push transmitter is wider than an opening of the rail and/or than the portion of the bending tool extending into the rail. 
     
     
       11. The apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein the pull and/or push transmitter guided in the guide structure extends at least partly inside the rail. 
     
     
       12. The apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein the pull and/or push transmitter comprises a belt, a cable, a rod or a chain. 
     
     
       13. The apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein the pull and/or push transmitter guided in the guide structure extends entirely inside the rail. 
     
     
       14. The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one transfer device comprises a shuttle which is guided in the guide structure provided in the rail. 
     
     
       15. The apparatus according to  claim 14 , wherein the shuttle comprises at least one functional component. 
     
     
       16. The apparatus according to  claim 14 , wherein the shuttle is connected to the pull and/or push transmitter at one end of the shuttle, and the shuttle has a releasable coupling at an opposite end of the shuttle, which releasable coupling is configured for connecting to a bending tool. 
     
     
       17. The apparatus according to  claim 16 , wherein the releasable coupling is a mechanical coupling, a magnetic coupling or a suction device. 
     
     
       18. The apparatus according to  claim 14 , wherein the shuttle comprises a coupling. 
     
     
       19. The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein a number of tool holders form a bending tool storage and the tool holders of the bending tool storage can be moved individually or in a co-operating unit relative to the at least one transfer device. 
     
     
       20. The apparatus according to  claim 19 , wherein the bending tool storage is provided in the form of a shelf and/or one or more racks. 
     
     
       21. The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is a loading device for loading a bending press with bending tools. 
     
     
       22. The apparatus according to  claim 21 , wherein the loading device is a tool changer for changing one or more of the bending tools inserted in a bending press. 
     
     
       23. The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one tool holder comprises at least two tool holders, wherein one of the at least two tool holders is an upper tool holder and the other of the at least two tool holders is a lower tool holder. 
     
     
       24. The apparatus according to  claim 23 , wherein the at least one transfer device guided in the rail of the one of the at least two tool holders has a coupling for connecting to a bending tool inserted in the other of the at least two tool holders. 
     
     
       25. The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one tool holder comprises at least two tool holders which are disposed adjacent to one another in a direction extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of their rails, and
 wherein their rails open in the same direction, and 
 wherein the at least one tool holder further comprises at least one further tool holder, the rail of which lies opposite the rail of one of the adjacently disposed tool holders. 
 
     
     
       26. The apparatus according to  claim 25 , wherein at least one of the at least two adjacently disposed tool holders is displaceable in the direction extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of its rail and transversely to the direction in which its rail opens. 
     
     
       27. The apparatus according to  claim 25 , wherein the two adjacently disposed tool holders are mounted on a common platform or form a common platform which can be displaced relative to the at least one further tool holder. 
     
     
       28. The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one tool holder comprises an upper tool holder and a lower tool holder, and wherein the at least one transfer device comprises at least two transfer devices which can be activated independently of one another, wherein one of the at least two transfer devices is associated with the upper tool holder and one of the at least two transfer devices is associated with the lower tool holder. 
     
     
       29. The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the portion of the at least one transfer device guided by the guide structure is an elongate flexible pull and/or push transmitter. 
     
     
       30. A method for setting up a bending press with bending tools using the apparatus as defined in  claim 1 , wherein one or more bending tools are displaced by the at least one transfer device between the at least one tool holder and a further tool holder, wherein the further tool holder is a tool holder of the bending press. 
     
     
       31. The method according to  claim 30 , wherein the at least one portion of the at least one transfer device is movable through the guide structure, and wherein the one or more bending tools are held in the rail of the at least one tool holder by the same guide structure as that through which the at least one portion of the at least one transfer device is moved. 
     
     
       32. A combination of a bending press and a loading device coupled therewith for setting up the bending press, the combination including the apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the loading device comprises the at least one transfer device, and wherein the at least one tool holder is part of the bending press, is part of the loading device, or is part of the bending press and the loading device. 
     
     
       33. A bending press and at least one transfer device,
 the bending press comprising:
 at least one tool holder with a rail having an inner profile for receiving and for allowing displacement of a bending tool, at least one internal wall of the rail forming a guide structure extending in the longitudinal direction of the rail; 
 
 the at least one transfer device being drivable by a drive for displacing the bending tool within the at least one tool holder and/or from the at least one tool holder; 
 wherein at least one portion of the at least one transfer device is guided by the guide structure formed in the rail; and 
 wherein the at least one transfer device and the bending tool, or the at least one portion of the at least one transfer device and the bending tool, are held in the rail.